12 Poke Cake Recipes That Double Down on Deliciousness

The lore for the poke cake — where you literally poke holes all over a cake, then pour some tasty liquid in the holes to soak into the cake — usually mentions that its popularity took off in the 1970s, when the JELL-O company advertised about it heavily to increase sales. And indeed, a cake imbued with jiggly gelatin is a party in itself. But let's remember that some very traditional desserts have utilized that technique for at least a hundred years, perhaps most famously, the Tres Leches Cake.

It is admittedly a few steps more to making a poke cake than to just a plain cake, say a pound cake or a Bundt. But for that reason, it's a great make-ahead dessert. You have to chill it prior to serving, to let that filling set properly; so as a host, you can bake it ahead, not worrying that this extra time will be deleterious to its deliciousness. So sharpen the end of your wooden spoon (not literally, of course) and get ready to poke, because it's a riotous good time.

On the topic of Tres Leches, turns out, this cake, too, got a boost in popularity in the 1930s and 40s when a recipe for one was on the side of cans of sweetened condensed milk. Marcela Valladolid's version is beautifully simple and redolent with cinnamon. (Go for Mexican cinnamon, if you can find it, although we love it either way.)

Just as we're all Irish on St. Patrick's Day, we also get to be Irish whenever an Irish coffee is served, which is woefully infrequently. This poke cake translates that all-star to cake form, and we're here for it. You've got chocolate box mix cake, pumped up with espresso powder, then enhanced with Irish cream. An irresistible frosting is also fortified with Irish cream, and melted chocolate gets drizzled all over.

This cake was inspired by banoffee, the English combination of banana plus toffee (which, yes). It has a twist: You're not just poking holes in the cake; you're poking chocolate-covered caramels right into the cake. Banana pudding brings this squarely into capital-B Bananasville. Take away point: If you haven't had the combination of banana and caramel, make this, post-haste.

We absolutely love strawberry shortcake. But on a hot day, the idea of "strawberry shortcake, but cool and puddingy" sounds so good you can hardly bear it. This is that. It's fruity, light and so cool.

Ree Drummond's ode to espresso is a poke cake with a tiramisu soul. (Yes, it even has mascarpone!) Like tiramisu, it's light as air, cool and creamy, with notes of coffee.

A poke cake excels at going tropical! Here, it's got all the elements of a piña colada, from the pineapple to the coconut and rum and even the cream of coconut. Cherries on top are super festive, and complete the cocktail reference.

Dare we say that this cake might be superior to the pudding that inspired it? Banana pudding is typically vanilla pudding with slices of banana. Here, the cake is a light and fresh banana cake, and it's filled with vanilla pudding. Of course the topping gets some crushed vanilla wafers, because, you gotta!

Ree Drummond goes for broke, here, giving chocoholics something they can really cozy up with. The cake's holes are filled with a chocolate cream, then a chocolate whipped cream topping is so rich from the inclusion of chocolate pudding. You can top with cherries, or if you're one of those people who hears "cherries with chocolate" and immediately wants to hiss, then you can leave them off.

Since sweetened condensed milk makes a Thai iced coffee one of the most refreshing beverages one can drink, and it's also a key ingredient in so many poke cakes, it was only logical to use the beverage as inspiration for this. Cardamom is the secret ingredient that really transports you to a glass of the stuff while you're eating it. You can serve after a Thai dinner, but this cake is a welcome punctuation to any kind of meal.

This isn't just a twist on favorite fall flavors, caramel and apple; it's a thoughtful dessert with so many interesting elements. The cake gains moisture from apple chunks baked in, but raw apple chunks on top are crunchy and juicy. A cinnamon-infused buttercream suggests the classic pie associated with the fruit, but in a new form. And caramel as a finishing touch could hardly go amiss.

This is just the kind of magical (and magical-looking) cake that you might find at the end of the rainbow. The glowing-green ombre effect is created by pouring lime gelatin into the poked holes of a barely-sweet buttermilk cake. Green sanding sugar makes it positively sparkle with leprachaun dust.